Latest Morning Briefing Stories
With Becerra as HHS Pick, California Plots More Progressive Health Care Agenda
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he has already begun discussing California health care priorities with Xavier Becerra, tapped this week by President-elect Joe Biden to serve as his Health and Human Services secretary.
Dialysis Industry Spends Millions, Emerges as Power Player in California Politics
Over the past four years, the dialysis industry has spent $233 million on both political offense and defense in California. Most of it went toward protecting its revenues against ballot initiatives, but the industry also strategically worked the corridors of the state Capitol.
Becerra, un candidato para el HHS con habilidad política pero sin experiencia en salud
La experiencia de Xavier Becerra no proviene de la salud o la ciencia. Pero tiene una larga trayectoria política ligada a las luchas por la equidad en salud.
In Becerra, an HHS Nominee With Political Skill But No Front-Line Health Experience
Despite his lack of front-line experience, Democrats see the California attorney general as an important ally to shepherd a progressive agenda on the Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, reproductive health services and immigration.
Xavier Becerra en sus propias palabras: “La atención de salud es un derecho”
El presidente electo Joe Biden eligió al fiscal general de California, Xavier Becerra, para dirigir el Departamento de Salud y Servicios Sociales (HHS). Como fiscal general y durante sus 24 años en el Congreso, Becerra ha sostenido posiciones progresistas en cuestiones de atención de salud, peleando contra la administración Trump sobre planificación familiar, demandando al mayor sistema de salud de California por conducta monopólica, y definiendóse como un defensor del sistema de salud de pagador único.
Xavier Becerra in His Own Words: ‘Health Care Is a Right’
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra is President-elect Joe Biden’s pick for U.S. Health and Human Services secretary. As attorney general and during his 24 years in Congress, he has staked progressive positions on health care issues, fighting the Trump administration on contraception, suing a major California health system for monopolistic behavior and calling himself a supporter of single-payer health care.
Fear and Loathing as Colleges Face Another Season of Red Ink
When campuses stay open, COVID infections spread widely, and sometimes kill. But by closing dorms and dining halls, scores of smaller schools face finances so ruinous they could be fatal for their institutions.
California Lawmakers to Newsom: Give All Immigrants Health Coverage
Given the pandemic’s disproportionate hit on minority communities, two Democratic lawmakers are pushing Newsom to agree to offer health care to all unauthorized immigrants. They planned to unveil legislation Monday — and a new strategy to make it happen.
As LA County Sets New Infection Record, State Leaders’ Behavior Sends Mixed Messages
Even as L.A.’s stay-at-home restrictions began, leaders across California took heat for their do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do pandemic behavior.
COVID en restaurantes, el fallido rastreo de contactos deja a comensales sin saber qué hacer
Con el invierno y la gente se reúne cada vez más en interiores, muchos gobiernos locales se mueven a ciegas, al carecer de datos para crear y ajustar las políticas de restricción por COVID.
Where COVID Is on the Menu: Failed Contact Tracing Leaves Diners in the Dark
State and local public health officials are sure that bars and restaurants are spreading COVID. But they don’t always have much concrete evidence to support their convictions.
OSHA Let Employers Decide Whether to Report Health Care Worker Deaths. Many Didn’t.
Four workers died at a facility with one of the largest U.S. outbreaks, but the Occupational Safety and Health Administration never conducted an inspection. It’s a pattern that’s played out across the nation, a KHN investigation finds.
Medicare Open Enrollment Is Complicated. Here’s How to Get Good Advice.
It’s a complex program with many options — as well as confusing rules and nuances. Here’s how to get reliable guidance.
Consejos para inscribirse bien en Medicare durante la complicada inscripción abierta
Medicare se reduce fundamentalmente a dos alternativas: la tarifa por servicio del Medicare Tradicional o el enfoque de atención administrada de Medicare Advantage.
California Law Banning Toxic Chemicals in Cosmetics Will Transform Industry
The law will ban the manufacture and sale in California of personal care products that contain 24 toxics, including asbestos, formaldehyde and lead, and is expected to fill a gap in federal regulation as companies sell the new formulations nationwide.
Eight months after California Healthline’s Heidi de Marco photographed LA under lockdown, she returned to the same iconic spots. Vehicle and foot traffic are up — as are coronavirus cases.
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
Push Is On in US to Figure Out South Asians’ High Heart Risks
While there’s growing momentum to understand South Asians’ high propensity for cardiovascular disease, researchers stress culturally tailored prevention.
As Broad Shutdowns Return, Weary Californians Ask ‘Is This the Best We Can Do?’
California’s ping-ponging approach to managing the pandemic — twice reopening large portions of the service sector economy only to shut them again — has residents and business owners on edge. But experts say the push and pull on businesses may be what success looks like in much of the U.S. for months to come, given COVID-19’s pervasive spread.
Lo que los doctores no aprenden: a detectar el racismo en la atención médica
Cuando la raza interviene en los cálculos médicos, puede conducir a tratamientos menos eficaces y perpetuar las desigualdades basadas en la raza.
